Grade A Education

Friday, 19 February 2010 00:50

Written by Administrator

A high quality of education is one of the biggest reasons families settle in Fayette and Coweta counties. The award-winning school systems are among the highest rated in the state. And that’s not all—there are also excellent private schools, pre-schools, university programs and continuing education throughout the area.

The Fayette County School System covers Brooks, Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone and Woolsey; the communities of Newnan, Sharpsburg, Thomas Crossroads, Senoia, Moreland, Grantville, Turin and Haralson are served by the Coweta County School System. Both school systems show test scores above the national average and have been recognized repeatedly for their standards and achievements.

All 28 of the Fayette County School System schools met the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) requirements in 2009. AYP, Adequate Yearly Progress, measures year-to-year student achievement and is a cornerstone of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Melinda Berry-Dreisbach of the Fayette County Board of Education points out that “All of Fayette’s schools have made AYP each of the six years since the assessment was implemented.”

In October 2009, Coweta County Board of Education received a report card that showed all 27 schools achieving AYP for 2008-09. Superintendent Blake Bass noted that the school system as a whole exceeded every standard set out by No Child Left Behind.

There are a variety of private schools here, including Montessori and parochial, that offer parents the opportunity to take advantage of excellent academic programs.

Counterpane School is one of the choices. A philosophically Montessori, creatively bent, ethnically diverse and strictly college preparatory school founded in 1974, Counterpane matriculated its first students to college in 1991. All the graduates have enjoyed acceptance to four-year colleges or universities.

According to Counterpane director Brenda Erickson, students get to know themselves well at Counterpane, developing self-awareness, an intellectual perspective, and a creative base required for our increasingly global society.

“Whether the student is three years old, nine years old, or eighteen years old, his or her academic opportunities are seasoned with personal, artistic expression,” she says. “Weaving, papermaking, primitive clay making and firing, composing music, writing and directing plays, painting, photography, sculpting—the list is as varied as the students themselves.”

Counterpane Students are involved in the service organizations YouthAct and Interact, and the students sponsor the Counterpane Golf Classic each year to raise funds for literacy efforts locally and globally through their outreach program, Souns. As one student says, “We are a little school, but we make a big difference.”

Families in Coweta, Fayette and surrounding areas enjoy the outstanding educational opportunities afforded by the Heritage School. The independent, co-educational, college preparatory, non-sectarian day school, Heritage students from three years of age through graduation from high school.

The Heritage School’s mission is to develop the mind in preparation for college and later life, to develop the body through competition and teamwork, to develop the spirit through self-awareness and growth, and to develop camaraderie through shared experience. Teachers and staff members recognize the unique strengths and needs of every child and work with those assets to create enthusiasm for learning.

“We value family, an intimate learning environment, and self-respect,” says Amy Riley, Director of Admissions at The Heritage School says that the school values family, an intimate learning environment and self-respect. “We see ourselves as stewards of human potential and take great pride in the ethos of our graduates,” she adds.

Specially designed programs for children who learn differently are also available here. The Bedford School, an accredited private school located in Fairburn, is dedicated to serving children with specific learning disabilities in grades one through nine.

Bedford teachers employ multi-sensory instruction and research-based teaching methods that allow students to maximize their potential. The student to faculty ratio at Bedford is seven to one, and students excel through the challenging academic curriculum and extra-curricular activities.

Squirrel Hollow Camp, a summer program designed for students aged 6 to 16 years is a 5-week day camp held on Bedford’s beautiful 46-acre campus where students can improve their academic skills and enjoy recreational activities like swimming and team games.

There are many other private schools here, including Landmark Christian in Peachtree City, Trinity Christian in Sharpsburg, Our Lady of Victory in Tyrone and Carolyn Barron Montessori in Newnan. A wide range of preschools are also in the area, so kids can get a good start early on.

Some students may require the services of professional tutoring. Sylvia of Progressive Tutoring of America reports that many people consider them to a ‘solution center’ since their programs address the cognitive processes critical to learning and retention. “We’re proud to offer the critically acclaimed, scientifically based Orton-Gillingham and Lindamood-Bell programs,” she says.

The programs engage all the learning pathways (visual, auditory, tactile & kinesthetic) and are designed to develop the cognitive functions needed for success in phonics, reading fluency, spelling, reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, math, memory and interpretive thinking.

“We’re the only supplemental education prprovider in Fayette County offering the Orton-Gillingham and Lindamood-Bell® programs,” Sylvia adds, “an we’re proud to help people of all ages and abilities learn at their own pace.”